Pens need Mike Lange

It’s been 79 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That’s 45 wins with the league leader in… It’s been 79 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That’s 45 wins with the league leader in scoring in Sidney Crosby, rookie leader in scoring in Evgeni Malkin and a guaranteed playoff berth for the first time in six years.

They’re now getting a new arena, assuring their place in Pittsburgh for the next 30 years. They’re battling New Jersey for first place in the division, which they held as of Sunday. They even swept the season series against Philadelphia.

All things considered, I should be ecstatic.

But unfortunately, throughout all these achievements and moments of intense emotion for the Penguins, something was missing – some simple, yet paramount aspect of Penguins hockey with which most of us grew up.

His name is Mike Lange.

After 30 years of building his career here in Pittsburgh as the true voice of the Penguins, Lange was fired at the start of this year’s season from his position on Fox Sports Network Pittsburgh. There was nothing the Pens could do about Lange’s firing from television, seeing as the team does not own the rights to their television broadcasts.

But since the Penguins do own the rights to their radio broadcasts, they did do something. They hired Lange at the last minute to fill the radio job, eventually leading to a drastic pay cut for the announcer. Paul Steigerwald, who previously did the radio play-by-play, was hired for Lange’s old job on television.

As I’m sure is the case with many other Penguins fans, Lange was the first voice I ever heard accompanying a televised hockey game, years and years ago. And since that day, I have come to see Lange to be as much a part of the Pens as any player on the ice.

It’s hard to describe his unique effect on the game to someone who has never heard him call one.

With coined phrases like, “Get in the fast lane, Grandma, the bingo game’s ready to roll,” and “Let’s go hunt moose on a Harley,” injected into gripping moments of the game, he adds a silliness and youthful enthusiasm that perfectly complements the excitement of what’s happening on the ice, whether it be a Crosby goal or a Colby Armstrong hit.

Steigerwald, however, tends to deaden the game. His inanimate disposition and apparent lack of knowledge beyond the statistic sheet in front of him add nothing tangibly interesting to the game.

With Lange, there was passion. Through his slightly graveled voice and original phrases, he conveyed a persona absorbed in hockey.

With Crosby, Malkin and Jordan Staal among a long list of new talent taking over the NHL, it baffles me that one of the few men capable of conveying that energy and passion for hockey has been taken away from the position that he truly deserves.

And while the Penguins’ new slogan, “Experience the Evolution,” recognizes the new wave of players taking over the league, FSN seems to be content with going backward.

Now, as I sit in my living room watching the Pens game, with the television on mute and the radio playing on the shelf behind me, I wonder how much longer we have until we’re subjected to Steigerwald alone. Because of the pay decrease and lack of respect shown to him by his previous employers, not even telling him face to face that he was fired, Lange may not return next season at all.

And even though Pittsburgh is more of a hockey town than most others hosting an NHL franchise, I fear that the future generations will face the consequences of this move. The fan base will most likely continue to rise, but it is the handful of newcomers who are turned away from the sport by monotonic, lethargic broadcasters for whom I grieve.

In 1975, Pittsburgh saw legendary Pirates sportscaster Bob “Gunner” Prince fall to a similar fate. A broadcaster for 28 years, Prince was fired partly because of the declining quality of his work and largely because of conflicts with the broadcasting company for which he was working.

Lange, however, seemed to be just as vibrant and animated last year as he had ever been since being hired in 1974 to fill the radio position to which he has recently been demoted.

If Pittsburgh is the powerhouse of sports tradition that it has come to be seen as, then those voices that helped shape and develop the sports here must be honored and respected as a part of that tradition.

Lange is one of those voices, and if we aren’t careful, Elvis might leave the building for good.